‘… Or That Time She Cried …’
Women’s Labour and Keening in Not I
In: Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd'huiSearch for other papers by Dúnlaith Bird in
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Abstract
This article examines Not I through the paradigm of keening (caoineadh), the Irish practice of mourning the dead, traditionally carried out by paid female performers. Keening, as a third-person lament and a socially-connotated form of female labour, offers a different vantage point on Beckett’s text, and interrogates Beckett’s engagement with gender, labour, and mourning more generally. Following an exploration of traditional keening practices and their repression by the Catholic Church, the article examines how this practice of “singing the dead” may inflect our understanding both of Mouth’s role in Not I, with its ‘posthumous feel’, and of the labour required from the performer to bring Mouth’s song to life.
Résumé
Dans cet article, nous étudions Pas moi au prisme du paradigme du « keening » (caoineadh), la pratique traditionnelle irlandaise qui consiste à pleurer les morts, historiquement le domaine des pleureuses professionnelles. À la fois lamentation à la troisième personne et forme de travail connotée comme féminine, cette pratique nous offre une autre perspective sur le texte de Beckett, et interroge le genre, le travail et le deuil dans son œuvre de façon plus large. Une analyse de la pratique traditionnelle du « keening » et de sa répression par l’ église Catholique sert de base pour une lecture de Pas moi qui questionne le rôle de Bouche dans cette pièce à l’« atmosphère posthume », ainsi que la valorisation du travail de l’ actrice qui porte le chant funèbre de Bouche.
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| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 401 | 161 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 58 | 12 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 119 | 19 | 0 |
‘… Or That Time She Cried …’
Women’s Labour and Keening in Not I
In: Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd'huiSearch for other papers by Dúnlaith Bird in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This article examines Not I through the paradigm of keening (caoineadh), the Irish practice of mourning the dead, traditionally carried out by paid female performers. Keening, as a third-person lament and a socially-connotated form of female labour, offers a different vantage point on Beckett’s text, and interrogates Beckett’s engagement with gender, labour, and mourning more generally. Following an exploration of traditional keening practices and their repression by the Catholic Church, the article examines how this practice of “singing the dead” may inflect our understanding both of Mouth’s role in Not I, with its ‘posthumous feel’, and of the labour required from the performer to bring Mouth’s song to life.
Résumé
Dans cet article, nous étudions Pas moi au prisme du paradigme du « keening » (caoineadh), la pratique traditionnelle irlandaise qui consiste à pleurer les morts, historiquement le domaine des pleureuses professionnelles. À la fois lamentation à la troisième personne et forme de travail connotée comme féminine, cette pratique nous offre une autre perspective sur le texte de Beckett, et interroge le genre, le travail et le deuil dans son œuvre de façon plus large. Une analyse de la pratique traditionnelle du « keening » et de sa répression par l’ église Catholique sert de base pour une lecture de Pas moi qui questionne le rôle de Bouche dans cette pièce à l’« atmosphère posthume », ainsi que la valorisation du travail de l’ actrice qui porte le chant funèbre de Bouche.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 401 | 161 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 58 | 12 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 119 | 19 | 0 |